I stared at her open mouthed: Preity Zinta on meeting Jinnah's daughter Dina Wadia
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Entertainment Desk/ IANS
Published: November 3, 2017
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Bollywood actor Preity Zinta paid her respects to the late Dina Wadia, and said she was fortunate enough to have met the ‘spirited’ grandmother of her former beau Ness Wadia.
Dina Wadia, the daughter of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, died at her home in New York on Thursday. She was 98.
Preity on Thursday tweeted, “Sorry to hear that the elegant and spirited Dina Wadia is no more. I was fortunate enough to have met her and really admired her. RIP.”
According to an article on
Times of India, the
Veer Zaara star was ‘blown away’ when she met the elegant woman.
“The first time I met her, I stared at her open mouthed. My goodness, she carries so much history within her! Since then we’ve met over dinner and at other social occasions several times. Each time I’m struck by her gentle demeanour, her classic elegance, and yes, her fragility,” Preity had stated.
While speaking about one of her favourite women, Preity’s voice lighted up. She continues, “I was also struck by her unmistakable facial resemblance to her illustrious father (Jinnah). I’ve never seen two people who resemble each other so closely.”
Quaid-i-Azam’s daughter Dina Wadia passes away at 98 in New York
Preity says she has met Dina Wadia both in Mumbai and abroad. “She lives in New York. But she visits Mumbai where she has close family. She carries an aura of unmistakable strength. Every time I meet her, there’s so much to imbibe from her. There are some people in this world who just carry an aura about them. She’s one of them.”
The last time when they met, Dina wanted to know about Preity’s IPL matches. “She takes a lot of interest in my life. The last time we met, she wanted to know all about the IPL matches. She’s so important to our times as a woman and a figure in history and yet conveys so much joie de vivre in her attitude. I just want to sit with her and listen to her.”
Dina had married Mumbai-based Parsi businessman Neville Wadia against her father’s wishes and stayed back in India after Partition.
She is survived by her daughter Diana N Wadia, son Nusli N Wadia, her grandsons Ness and Jeh Wadia and two great grandchildren Jah and Ella Wadia.
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Jinnah's only child, Dina Wadia, passes away at 98
Dawn.comUpdated November 02, 2017
1911
Mr Jinnah with his sister Fatima and his daughter Dina. — Courtesy National Archives Islamabad
Dina Wadia (extreme left), Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s only child, flew in from Delhi to attend her father’s funeral. —Photo: The Press Information Department, Ministry of Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage, Islamabad
Dina Wadia, the only child of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Rattanbai Petit, passed away in New York on Thursday, sources in Mumbai and New York confirmed.
She was 98 years old.
She had been born on the night between August 14 and 15 in 1919.
Jinnah had raised Dina alone after his separation from Rattanbai and her subsequent demise.
Mr Jinnah and Dina share a private moment in the grounds of their home on West Heath Road in Hampstead, London. — Courtesy National Archives Islamabad
He loved her deeply, but their relationship had become strained after Dina fell in love with and married an Indian Parsi named Neville Wadia at the age of 17.
Dina and Neville lived in Mumbai and had two children, a boy and a girl, before the couple divorced.
Dina had first visited Pakistan in 1948, when the year-old country had lost its founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
The last time she visited Pakistan was in 2004, accompanied by her son, Nasli Wadia, and grandchildren, Jehangir and Ness.
After visiting the
mausoleum of her father, she had written in the visitors' book: “This has been very sad and wonderful for me. May his [Jinnah's] dream for Pakistan come true.”
“When time stood still,” Iqbal’s grandson narrates the beautiful story of the time when Dina Wadia visited Pakistan
- Ms. Wadiya was gracious like her father, she looked like her father, she spoke like her father and she hated police escorts and the attendant fanfare, just like her father, shares Salahuddin
Blog Published on November 3, 2017 (Edited November 3, 2017)
by Urooj Fatima
Dina Wadia, the only child of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, has passed away in New York at an impressive age of 98. Ms. Wadia’s death marks an end of an era.
The saddened death of – almost forgotten daughter of Quaid – brought back a lot of memories for a lot of people. Her uncanny resemblance to Quaid-e-Azam, her gentle demeanor, and her classic elegance, reminded everyone of her father. Just like Jinnah left everyone dazzled of his charms, Ms. Wadiya too mesmerized everyone she ever met.
Yousaf Salahuddin, the grandson of Allama Mohammad Iqbal, narrated the beautiful story of the time when Dina Jinnah visited Pakistan. According to his account, it was in 2004 and he was dining with the then finance minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz when he informed him that Ms. Wadiya is coming to Pakistan.
“The rest of the dinner passed in a haze while I wondered what it would be like to meet this remarkable
lady”, shared Salahuddin.
“I grew up in a family where stories of the Quaid were often narrated and listened to in rapt attention. I never had the opportunity of meeting the great man himself, even though he seemed omnipresent in our house”, Yousaf wrote and added, “the possibility of seeing the Quaid’s daughter in this same haveli moved me beyond words. I didn’t know very much about Dina Wadia other than that she was a private person. I had only read one interview of hers which was done for a documentary by my friend Sophie Swire during the 50th independence celebrations of India and Pakistan. I could clearly see her father in her”.
Mr. Yousaf got the opportunity to meet Ms. Wadiya when he shared his utmost desire with Jinnah’s grandson and Ms. Wadiya’s son Nasli Wadia, at a party. The party was hosted by Yousaf’s son on the evening of March 24 during Wadiya family’s visit to Pakistan. The next day, Nasli called ask Yousaf if he’d joined him and his mother for dinner at a chic cafe in the walled city.
Iqbal’s grandson arrived at cafe early and was excited to see Ms. Jinnah. In his own words:
“I arrived early at the cafe and was there to watch Ms. Wadia walk in. I was stunned by her resemblance to her father. Everyone who sees her for the first time is struck by her remarkable likeness to her father. Shaharyar Khan was kind enough to ask me to sit next to her. When I was able to speak, the first thing I said to her was: “Ma’am, you have done a great honour to us by coming to Pakistan.” To which she replied: “I’m happy to be here but you really must thank Shaharyar. It was at his invitation that I am here.”
Iqbal’s grandson invited Ms. Dina to visit the very haveli, he had met her father in. Ms. Wadia graciously accepted the invitation and Yousaf showed her around, the pictures of her father and aunt.
Yousaf Salahuddin showing pictures to Ms. Dina Wadia
According to Mr. Yousaf, Ms. Wadiya was gracious like her father, she looked like her father, she spoke like her father and she hated police escorts and the attendant fanfare, just like her father. When she was about to leave his haveli, people gathered around her car, she met them pleasantly and it was for the first time in Pakistan that he saw people to make a queue and wait for their turn to shook Ms. Dina’s hand, shared Yousaf.
“The car rolled away and the evening was at an end. As I stood there and watched her go……Come back soon [Dina], this is the home of your father and you remind us so much of him”, wrote Yousaf at the end of his memoir.
Dina Jinnah is gone but still lives in the memory of those who had a chance to meet her. Maybe it was her gracefulness or her extraordinary resemblance to her father or her striking persona, that everyone -who knew her personally and didn’t know her personally – is having a hard time believing that our last immediate connection to Quaid is no more with us.
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